The 10th-anniversary Spirits of Mexico Festival in San Diego has awarded Excellia Tequila Blanco a Gold Medal and designated it as Best in Class. The week-long event is North America’s largest event dedicated to agave spirits and attracted over 2,000 tequila aficionados and featured seventy tequilas, in addition to an extensive range of mezcals and beers.
The judging panel was led by Robert Plotkin of BarMedia and Jack Robertiello of Drinks Ink. They oversaw a panel of nationally recognized and influential mixologists, media personalities, and key buyers. The panel judged entries on appearance, aromatics, flavor, mouthfeel and finish. The judges lauded Excellia Tequila Blanco for its “attractive aromas of white flowers, geranium and rose-scented talcum” as well as being a “…delicate tequila…with flavors of lemon and pineapple, lightly sweet and mighty delicious.”
Audrey Fort, the EuroWineGate Portfolio Director for the USA, explains why she is particularly excited by this award, coming on the heels of superb critical acclaim, including a Gold Medal at the 2011 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. “This competition is incredibly competitive because it is dedicated to nothing but agave spirits. Being named Best Blanco Tequila is really consequential given that Tequila connoisseurs tend to judge tequila largely by their Blanco expressions. This prize is a tremendous recognition not just of Excellia’s exceptional quality but also of its innovativeness—after all, our Blanco rests for a few weeks in Sauternes wine casks and Cognac barrels—what other Blanco tequila does that!”
Excellia Tequila is part of the Classics & Vintage Artisanal Spirits Portfolio, the spirits division of Domaine Select Wine Estates, the Manhattan based wine and spirits importer.
In accordance with the “excellence” at the root of its name, Excellia exalts merit and superiority in virtue. Excellia is the fruit of the meeting of two visionary men: Jean-Sébastien Robicquet, founder of EWG Spirits & Wine and groundbreaking brand creator and producer (G’Vine gin and Esprit de June liqueur) and Carlos Camarena, precursor and award-winning tequila master-distiller (Tapatio and El Tesoro tequilas) and at the origin of the “Extra-Añejo” tequila category. Excellia is the perfect marriage of their unique expertise: the tequila and wine worlds.
Excellia is a handcrafted tequila made with 100% blue weber agave. The estate grown agave plants are cut by hand, crushed to extract the aromatic agave juice and then fermented in wooden vats and twice distilled in copper stills. This base benefits from a unique ageing in Grand Cru Sauternes casks and Cognac barrels. The blend gives birth to 3 different interpretations: a round Blanco, aged a few weeks, an emblematic Reposado, aged 9 months, and a powerful Anejo, aged 18 months. Marrying to perfection the grape and agave characters, Excellia is a state-of-art demonstration of growing, distilling, ageing and blending. www.excelliatequila.com
Assembled in 2009, the Classic & Vintage Collection is a portfolio of specialized spirits, founded by Domaine Select Wine Estates (DSWE). The Portfolio represents a dynamic and diverse group of products that promote quality and accessibility within the cocktail culture across the U.S. This spirits set is an unprecedented collection of gems, each with a distinct and relevant story.
Founded in 1999, Domaine Select Wine Estates (DSWE) is dedicated to wines and specialized spirits from around the world of the highest quality and which demonstrate excellence and tremendous character, particular to their origin. DSWE is committed to transmitting the individuality of the producers; expressing diversity, tradition and personality is the tenet of DSWE. Domaine Select Wine Estates was named 2010 Importer of the Year by FOOD & WINE Magazine.
